


The Shopping Expedition

by Marie_L



Series: The Argument of Periapsis [4]
Category: Almost Human
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternate Universe - Space, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 03:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2635736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_L/pseuds/Marie_L
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Valerie helps Dorian shop for a new set of clothes, and he finds something fabulous. Short deleted scene from Periastron chapter 8.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Shopping Expedition

The marketplace district on the Concourse fascinated Dorian, as exhausted as he was. The "jet lag," as John called it, affected him more profoundly than he anticipated before leaving Von. The daily cycle was so much shorter, it felt like he was constantly trying to sleep ahead of schedule. But he needed clothing to fit into human society, something besides his uniform and the form-fitting radiation suit he had worn while traveling. Detective Stahl had kindly offered to show him around, and hinted the experience would be an educational opportunity.

Indeed it was. He stared with amazement at the diversity of options, and how many of them were constrained by age, occupation, social occasion, cultural origin, gender. Plus there was something called _taste_ , which he gathered was undefinable artistic opinion influenced by social status. One could study the full range of human society just by the clothes alone. His teachers on Von hadn't mentioned any of this; they told him to reasonably approximate whatever his coworkers were wearing, and leave it at that.

"What about this one, Detective Stahl?" He held up some shimmering pants that ended mid-thigh, with an appealing green finish. She wrinkled her nose in unconscious dislike, though, so he already moved to put it back.

" _Valerie,_ Dorian. Call me Valerie, especially when out and about. And that one ... is more for teenagers, I'm afraid. Short teenagers, who are a little too into torpolo."

"Well, I am currently short compared to the average adult human, and not very old either."

"You're a professional, Dorian. You can't wear short pants out in public, unless it’s for a costume party." She motioned him down the boulevard to another, evidently more appropriate shop.

"Party? A formal social occasion with entertainment, food and drinks? Have you been to one?"

Valerie laughed, an emotion which altered her perfectly symmetrical face in innumerable pleasant ways. He wanted to study the subtleties of laughter. It was so hard to accurately mimic, and one that humans could always detect was being faked.

"I have been to a few parties, on occasion. Truthfully they are not my thing, I'd rather stay home and study a good investigative report, you know?" She smiled again, indicating some slight self-depreciation he thought, although he couldn't understand what could be wrong with her statement. "When I was younger there were many parties, back at university and such."

"Which you did not enjoy?"

"Not especially, no. Although if it's every once in awhile, and you're with friends that you care about, it can be fun."

"Loved ones generally make any social gathering more pleasant," he commented.

"Apparently that's a universal truth," she amiably agreed.

Valerie was subtly directing their movement down the plaza towards a shop that contained many of the same sorts of garments John wore, Dorian observed. Subdued colors, many flat browns and greens and blacks, shades that he associated with the Elders down in the depths for some reason, although of course they didn't wear clothes. Most humans were so young, why didn't they wear the brighter emotional colors? Although their children were allowed, so perhaps it was a matter of relative age.

Along the way, he saw a garment that made him stop and stare for its breathtaking beauty. It was long and flowing like water, and exactly reflected the most joyous shade of bright blue. His face and antennae were probably mimicking it now, as just the sight of the exquisite color made him happy. Dorian had the urge to touch it, maybe even let his antennae brush against it, which would _surely_ be inappropriate.

"Well, speaking of parties." Valerie came up behind him to see what he was admiring. "It's a ball gown. A very formal dress for an ancient type of dance. They're all the rage now, again."

"Can I try it on?"

"Ummm..." She paused, and he wondered what social custom he had violated now. "It's a garment for women."

"Oh." _That_ again. He forgot about gender assignment a lot of the time, except the personal pronouns which had been endlessly drummed into him, as saying the wrong one could be misconstrued as highly insulting. Either way one got it wrong, as if each gender secretly thought they were superior to the other. It was all bizarre to him. How did _pregnancy and nursing_ _infants_ somehow equate to _allowed to wear long flowy clothes_? "So because I chose to use the male pronouns, I cannot wear it?"

"Ummm..." she said again. "Oh what the hell, go for it. It's not like you're really male or female anyway, or even if you _were_ male, there's no law against wearing dresses. People just might be surprised, is all. But the blue will look great with your eyes and face."

They walked in and Valerie showed him the private booth to change in. Stripping down in public, another oddly forbidden act. The dress had an extraordinary texture, smooth and cool and pliable. He loved the way it seemed to move of its own accord, and breezed by his unencumbered legs. Dorian stepped out from behind the curtain to see Valerie's opinion. Her eyes grew wide, and he couldn't tell whether she approved or not.

"WOW. That's just ... wow." She was blinking in awe, seemingly struck speechless.

"Is it acceptable? I love the color."

"The color really isn't the most important thing about an article of clothing, usually you need to look first at the utility and cut and so forth. But in this case ..." She pulled on the upper section to make it lie a bit more flat against his chestplate. "The top needs to be altered, because it's made for someone with breasts. But otherwise ... the color really is fabulous."

She took his hands and showed him how to twirl the dress to make it flow outward with centrifugal force. The the shopkeeper put on some music, a lovely piece she called a waltz, and Valerie demonstrated the simple three-motion dance. It had a drifting beauty like the dress, ebbing and flowing with the tide of sound.

"You know, there's the Friends of Security Forces fundraiser ball coming up in a couple of months. That would be a good opportunity to show off this dress."

"Will John attend?"

"We'll _make_ him attend. Get Captain Maldonado into it, he won't have a choice. Just don't show him what you're wearing in advance. I can store it at my place for safekeeping, and to keep the moisture in your quarters off it. Let it be a surprise."

Valerie laughed again, and he gave her a delighted neon azure color back. He didn't understand why she was laughing, but it made him joyful all the same.

 

 


End file.
